Windows fresh install?

[Austin_77]

I've had my PC for about 3 or 4 years now, my HDD's run fine, I have 16 gbs of ram and I recently upgraded the CPU and Video cards. My problem I'm having is extremely slow boot up and shut down taking up to 15 minutes on either side of the spectrum. I've tried almost everything from defrag to error checking and some registry editing and still it is slow, I'm thinking a fresh install of windows might fix it. I'm not sure though.

The other problem i'm having is my CD key for my copy of Windows 7 Home premium sp1 was pulled off an old laptop, which I've since gotten rid of, and I do not own a install CD,

 

[clutchc]

You can locate your product key on the machine: http://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/

 

[Austin_77]

You can locate your product key on the machine: http://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/

ok that solves one problem, but is the reinstall necessary? Also what about the files as I said I don't have a widows 7 CD to install from

 

[clutchc]

You can locate your product key on the machine: http://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/

ok that solves one problem, but is the reinstall necessary? Also what about the files as I said I don't have a widows 7 CD to install from

You said you did some registry editing. You might try running CCleaner. Do the Clean and Registry portions both. If it returns lots of "fixes", run it again. I've found that it fixes a lot of problems. https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

You may also have some malware slowing down the system. Give Malwarebytes a run: https://www.malwarebytes.com/

Once you have your legal (and activated) product key available, you can download the Win7 .ISO file from Microsoft, and use it to burn a new installation disk: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

 

[Austin_77]

You can locate your product key on the machine: http://www.howtogeek.com/206329/how-to-find-your-lost-windows-or-office-product-keys/

ok that solves one problem, but is the reinstall necessary? Also what about the files as I said I don't have a widows 7 CD to install from

You said you did some registry editing. You might try running CCleaner. Do the Clean and Registry portions both. If it returns lots of "fixes", run it again. I've found that it fixes a lot of problems. https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

You may also have some malware slowing down the system. Give Malwarebytes a run: https://www.malwarebytes.com/

Once you have your legal (and activated) product key available, you can download the Win7 .ISO file from Microsoft, and use it to burn a new installation disk: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7

I went to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows7 put in my key which is verifed and got this message: "The product key you entered appears to be for software pre-installed by the device manufacturer. Please contact the device manufacturer for software recovery options".

 

[clutchc]

Then you have an OEM version of Win7. You'll have to contact the vendor/manufacturer of your PC for info about obtaining an installation disk.

Another option might be to search out new/used copies of Win7 someplace like ebay. Use it to do the initial installation, then activate with your product key... if it is a valid key.